My favorite thing about November is Wrapped Up in the Valley. This wine event is hosted by 20 Valley (www.20valley.ca) it features wine and food pairings at 24 participating wineries. I love this event firstly because some of the best wine in Ontario is coming from the Beamsville bench these days. It’s also a great way to get out and try new wines, I know that we all fall into funks where we find a wine we like and we stick to it, it can be difficult to know where to being when you’re looking for something new to drink and what better way than to dive in head first. One other thing about an event like this, it is hands down one of the least snobby wine events you will find, so if you’re intimidated by exploring wine country this is the way to do it. There are still tickets available but they are going fast all the information you need is found here: http://www.20valley.ca/files/Wrapped_Up_Info_Package_2012.pdf
2011 Megalomaniac Narcissist Riesling – VINTAGES 67587 – $17.95 – This wine is consistently among the best Riesling’s in the province, this vintage is no exception. The flavours have moved away from Lemon and Orange in previous vintages to Pink Grapefruit. What makes this Riesling so great? Balance between acidity and sugar. While there is enough sugar that you get a touch of sweetness on the tongue the acidity on the finish washes this away but at the same time leaves you with a satisfying zing on the back of your tongue. This creates a wine that is extremely food friendly, but this wine is one of those that is more than okay on it’s own.
2010 Cave Spring Red – LCBO 305110 – $14.95 – I was excited to try this wine. I am always curious when I see wineries offering Blended wines in the regular list. I can honestly admit, I wasn’t sure what I was expecting when I opened the bottle, but I was completely blown away with what I poured in the glass (that’s a fancy way of saying it took me about 10 minutes to kill the first glass… something that even with great wines doesn’t happen very often). What we have is a fruit forward wine with flavours of Dark Cherry, Plum slight hints of Raspberry. The finish on this wine leaves you with flavours from the barrel, especially a nice smoky finish that meets the fruit flavours in harmony.
